Demonstrating interest to admissions

Transfer Students
1

<p>I plan on applying to UW Madison as a transfer student to enroll next fall. It is the only college I have any real interest in transferring to. Would it benefit me to call/write and let them know that I would be committed to going if I was accepted, and that it is the only school I am applying to?</p>

2

<p>The University of Wisconsin, along with most public universities, does not use demonstrated interest in its admissions process.</p>

<p>UW assistant director of admissions Tom Reason said there is no need for such practices at UW. “Why would we? It’s not a qualitative or quantitative basis for who more deserves to be admitted,” he said.</p>

<p>Don’t be misled by the article title, they are not talking about UW
[The</a> Badger Herald · Students who show ‘demonstrated interest’ may gain a leg up in admissions - The Badger Herald](<a href=“http://badgerherald.com/news/2004/02/03/students-who-show-de/]The”>http://badgerherald.com/news/2004/02/03/students-who-show-de/)</p>

3

<p>BrownParent echoes a common sentiment that large universities care less about things such as common interest.</p>

<p>I’m also wondering about this, but I’m transferring to small liberal arts colleges. I assume that admissions officers appreciate demonstrated interest at these places.</p>

<p>I’ve heard claims that admissions offices keep track of your calls, length of calls, emails, letters, and all other contact. This strikes me as scary since I’m applying to a great deal of schools and have so much work to do.</p>

<p>What do people have to say about small liberal arts colleges?</p>

4

<p>At the other end of the spectrum from large publics, are selective privates. Often they get enough highly qualified candidates that they don’t care about showing interest. And in other cases, it just varies by school; for instance, Emory is selective for fr admissions, but often loses accepted students to other privates and so does look at interest.</p>

<p>Check the Common Data Set for schools to see how they rank the Level of Applicant’s Interest. A couple of examples, Pomona does not consider interest while for Reed it’s an important factor:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/administration/institutional-research/common-data-set/11-12/C-Admissions.pdf[/url]”>http://www.pomona.edu/administration/institutional-research/common-data-set/11-12/C-Admissions.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[Reed</a> College 2010-11 Common Data Set SecC](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/cds/cds1011/cdssecc201011.html]Reed”>Reed College 2010-11 Common Data Set SecC - Institutional Research - Reed College)</p>

5

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<p>I think the idea that colleges keep track of things like length of calls is pretty out there. And be aware that too much trivial contact (eg. things that can easily be found on the website) can be more of a negative than a positive.</p>

6

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<p>I emailed Emory and they said they don’t look at interest for transfers anymore.</p>

7

<p>Quoting once more for emphasis:</p>

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8

<p>I know. I was just making sure that the OP wouldn’t get confused because this is a transfer forum</p>

9

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<p>Don’t assume; look at the school’s common data set, section C7, or the admissions tab in the school’s entry at [CollegeData:</a> College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, Student Loan, FAFSA Info, Common Application](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com%5DCollegeData:”>http://www.collegedata.com) . That will tell you if “level of applicant’s interest” is considered. (Yes, that’s for frosh; but it would not be surprising if the same consideration applied to transfer applications; unfortunately, the common data set section D does not have as detailed questions.)</p>